Falling Hard
by kimmsical
Summary: The story of how the children of two ex-enemies fell in love. Rose/Scorpius.
1. How it all began

The first time Rose Weasley noticed Scorpius Malfoy as anything more than a classmate was halfway through their sixth year, during a double Potions class.

Professor Clearwater had given them thirty minutes to prepare their ingredients for a fairly difficult potion they were to make during the remaining class time, and as usual, Rose was the first to finish her prep. She watched as her classmates continued to chop, crush or pound various potion ingredients, and as she glanced around from beneath her bronze lashes, her eyes fell on Scorpius.

He was sitting in the row diagonally across from hers, his head bent over his worktable. His blond fringe fell into his eyes, and Rose couldn't help but admire his silky hair. He had beautiful hair – it was like spun gold, and the envy of many girls at their school. He also had the most gorgeous blue-gray eyes. Rose normally disliked it when people said eyes could be more than one colour, but Scorpius was a definite exception.

"Rose," Albus Potter, her best friend, nudged her, "how're we supposed to get these bean things to break open?"

Rose made an exasperated noise that caused Scorpius to turn, and he raised a pale eyebrow at her.

She flushed, feeling the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him, but she restrained herself from doing so and instead turned to help Albus.

After demonstrating to Albus how to split the beans open, she resumed with her observation of Scorpius' appearance. She had seen his father before, but Scorpius didn't have the pale, pointed features Draco had. He was definitely on the pale side, but his features looked more like his mother's, and he was quite attractive.

Rose was sure more than one girl would scoff at her conclusion – even _she_ knew it wasn't true. Scorpius wasn't just 'quite attractive' – he was the best-looking boy Rose had ever known.

After class that day, Rose and Albus headed back to their common room, talking excitedly about the Quidditch match that was going to be held the next afternoon. Albus was an excellent flyer and was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"We're up against _Slytherin_." Al groaned. "They have such a good team this year, and now it's going to be even better thanks to Scorpius – he's standing in for Jeremy Tornwood tomorrow because Jeremy's down with the flu."

"Scorpius?" Rose blushed as she remembered what she had been thinking about during Potions. "Is he any good?"

Al nodded. "Absolutely _brilliant_. Not quite as brilliant as James is, of course, but still..."

James Potter, Albus' older brother, was the Gryffindor Seeker, and he was incredible. He had caught the Snitch at every game Gryffindor had played since he was a first year.

They gave the Fat Lady the password before stepping through the portrait hole.

"You've still got one more class, right?" Al said.

Rose nodded. "I've got Arithmancy. Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah," Albus said, "I guess I'll see you later, then."

Rose went up to the girls' dormitory to get her Arithmancy books before heading off to her Arithmancy class.

She looked down at the many books in her arms as she walked, itching to flip them open and read them cover-to-cover. Instead, she stared at their titles and wondered what they'd learn in class that day.

She was almost at her Arithmancy classroom when she crashed into Scorpius and tumbled onto the ground, her books flying out of her hands.

She gasped and scrambled to her feet. Scorpius was already gathering her books, and he handed them to her once he'd picked them all up. "Sorry."

She turned pink. "That's okay. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Scorpius gave her a half-smile. "All the more reason I should be sorry, considering I _was_ looking where I was going and still crashed into you."

"Oh." Rose had never thought of it that way. She hesitated before saying, "I heard you'll be playing at the match tomorrow. I didn't know you played."

Scorpius looked surprised, but he quickly covered it up with an indifferent expression. "Yeah, I'm playing tomorrow."

Rose had hoped her remark would start a conversation, but he didn't seem very interested in making conversation, so she said, "I'd better get to class."

"Yeah," Scorpius nodded, "I-I'll see you around?"

For some reason, the thought of seeing him around made Rose's heart skip a beat, and it took everything in her not to beam at him for even suggesting it. "See you around."

She hurried into her Arithmancy classroom, a wide smile on her face. She chided herself for acting like that airhead she disliked so much, Lena Faye – Lena was in the same year as Rose, and constantly gushed about the boys in Gryffindor – but she couldn't really help it.

She had never really spoken to Scorpius before, but now she wished she could talk to him all the time.

For the time being, she contented herself with replaying the scene in the hallway with Scorpius in her mind over and over.

But that was just for the time being, she told herself. Because she was determined to make friends with Scorpius, and if there was one thing to be said about Rose Weasley, it was that she always got what she wanted.


	2. Becoming friends

**Disclaimer:** This one's for both the first chapter and this one, simply because I forgot to write one for the first chapter. The characters and the magical world they live in are not mine. Everything belongs to JKR except the plot.

Scorpius was eating at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall the next afternoon when Rose walked up to him.

He glanced up at her from his food, surprised. "Rose?"

Rose's cheeks were tinged with pink, and she smiled shyly. "Hi, Scorpius. Can I, um, sit down?"

Scorpius frowned. "Uh... this is the Slytherin table."

The pink of Rose's cheeks deepened to a dark crimson. "Yes, I know that, but I just thought that _perhaps_ House rivalry could be set aside for just a moment so that I could maybe wish you 'good luck'!"

"Oh." Scorpius looked embarrassed. He moved over to make room for her. "I'm sorry, I was just – I was confused."

"No, _I'm_ sorry." Rose bit her lower lip as she sat down. "I shouldn't have shouted at you."

Scorpius looked amused. "You weren't shouting."

"Hey, Scorp!" Benjamin Nott plunked down on Scorpius' other side. He grinned at Rose. "Hey, Weasley."

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "Hello, Benjamin."

She turned her attention back to Scorpius. "Well, good luck, then. For the ga – "

"Why would you want luck to be on _our_ side?" Ben interjected as he shovelled mashed potatoes into his mouth. "We're playing against _your_ House!"

"I know that." Rose said, annoyed. "But I thought that since it was Scorpius' first time – "

"Thank you." Scorpius said quickly, hoping an argument wouldn't start up.

Rose nodded curtly, and Scorpius noticed that her cheeks were flushed again. He realized he'd rarely seen her when she _wasn't_ blushing.

She stood up to leave, but paused just before she went. She looked at Scorpius. "I know we've never really talked before this, not counting yesterday, but I thought... I thought it might be nice if we were friends."

Ben's eyebrows shot up, but Scorpius ignored him. He shrugged, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. "Yeah, okay."

Rose smiled slightly. "See you later, then. At the match."

Scorpius nodded, and Rose left.

Ben frowned at him. "What was that all about?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Like she said, she wants to be friends."

"With _you_?" Ben said sceptically. "No offense, mate, but you're one of the world's most unfriendly people."

"I'm not unfriendly." Scorpius said defensively.

"Hate to break this to you, but you are." Rick Zabini said from where he was sitting opposite Ben. "You don't talk to _anyone_ unless you absolutely have to."

"Shut up." Scorpius said lamely, unable to think of anything else to say. "Okay, fine, maybe I'm not exactly sociable – "

"Understatement of the century." Ben said.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Now I'm just going to ignore you."

He looked across the Great Hall to where Rose had joined her friends at the Gryffindor table. She was very pretty, Scorpius noted. She had reddish-brown curls and deep blue eyes, and golden skin from the sun.

She also seemed very nice, despite that slight know-it-all tendency. Scorpius didn't think she'd make a bad friend at all.

Just then, she turned and saw him staring. She smiled hesitantly, and he returned it with a brilliant smile of his own, which made her blush.

He couldn't think of a girl he'd liked making blush more.

*

Rose couldn't believe how she had acted at the Slytherin table. She was normally extremely composed, but she'd just been so nervous about speaking to Scorpius that she'd blown up at every little thing.

Now, back at the table with Albus, James, Lily and Hugo, her heart rate had gone back to normal and she finally felt like she could breathe properly.

She had just caught Scorpius looking at her, and she'd smiled automatically. His returning smile had made her face heat up – blushing seemed to be her face's natural reaction to seeing Scorpius at all – and she'd looked away quickly. She couldn't imagine why she got so worked up over Scorpius.

"- so who d'you reckon will win today's match, Rosie?" James was asking her.

"What?" Rose was snapped out of her reverie, and she looked at James. "Who'll win the game? Well, Gryffindor, of course."

James grinned at her. "Really? You don't seem to think so."

Rose frowned. Her cousin could really be more intuitive than she liked. "What are you talking about? Of course I do!"

"All right, all right, no need to get all upset." James smiled. "I just got the idea that maybe you were rooting for Slytherin, considering the way you were looking at Malfoy and all that."

"Malfoy?" Lily, James' and Albus' little sister, looked interested. "He's really handsome, isn't he?"

Lorcan Scamander glanced at Scorpius, then turned back to Lily. "No, he isn't."

Rose bit back her smile. It was no secret that Lorcan had a crush on Lily, and just the thought that she might think Scorpius was handsome had turned his face a fiery red.

"And even if he was, you're not going near him." James said to Lily firmly. "You can't be dating Slytherins, all right, Lil?"

Roxanne Weasley, who was in the same year as James, laughed. "Give it a rest, James. It's not like they're _evil_ or anything."

"They might be." James said darkly.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Honestly, James."

"Well, I'm not saying you can't go after Malfoy, Rosie." James said, cheerful again. "You can if you like."

Rose blushed, but Lily saved her from having to say anything by speaking angrily, "Are you saying I can't tell who the wrong sort are?"

"Of course not, Lil." James said. "But just in case..."

Rose could sense an argument about to start and she stood, pulling Lily up with her. "Let's go back to the common room for a bit before the match."

She didn't miss the curious glance Scorpius sent her way as she left the Great Hall with Lily, and she smiled.

**Author's Note:** Reviews are much appreciated!


	3. Injured

**Disclaimer:** All characters and magical references are J.K. Rowling's. Nothing is mine.

Rose and Lily hurried down to the Quidditch pitch for the game slightly late that day. They squeezed past the many other people in the Gryffindor stands to get to where Lorcan and Alexa Thomas were sitting.

"What did we miss?" Lily asked breathlessly as she flopped down beside Alexa.

"The snitch was just released." Lorcan replied. "I don't think either seeker's seen it yet, though."

Rose searched the flying figures for Scorpius and found him almost instantly, thanks to his striking blond hair. He was flying around the hoops lazily, on lookout for the snitch, his hair adorably windswept.

"Oh my gosh, look, _look_!" Lily jumped up excitedly. "I think James has just seen the snitch!"

All eyes in the Gryffindor stands shot to James, who was flying so fast that he was just a blur. Scorpius saw him too, and began to give chase.

Everyone watched the seekers with held breath. Scorpius was quickly gaining on James, and Rose clapped a hand over her mouth.

Scorpius was just about level with James when a bludger flew out of nowhere and smashed into his shoulder.

James flew out of the way just as Scorpius began hurtling to the ground, and Rose leapt to her feet. "Somebody has to help him!"

Alexa frowned. "Where did that bludger _come_ from?"

All the colour drained from Rose's face as Scorpius hit the ground. "He's unconscious!"

Lily bit her lip. "He's probably just passed out from the pain – I think his shoulder's dislocated."

"_Shit_." Rose grabbed Lily's arm. "Come on, we're going down there."

"Wait, Rose – " Lily protested as Rose dragged her down to the pitch.

They reached Scorpius at the same time the school's nurse, Madam Patil, and the Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, did, and Roxanne and James swooped down to help.

"Is he going to be all right?" Rose asked worriedly.

James glanced at her as he grabbed Scorpius' legs. "He should be. I heard that my dad used to fall like that all the time."

"Wait, wait, Mr. Potter!" Madam Patil exclaimed. "His shoulder!"

She checked Scorpius' shoulder then clucked her tongue sympathetically. "Definitely dislocated. And I think his arm might be broken too."

"How can I help?" Roxanne asked.

"Support his upper torso and bring him to the Hospital Wing." Madam Patil instructed. "I'll join you in a few moments."

"Miss Weasley, Miss Potter, what are you doing here?" Professor McGonagall asked them as James and Roxanne left with Scorpius.

Lily turned red, but Rose blurted out, "Could we go with them, Professor? _Please_?"

Professor McGonagall studied her, then nodded. "Yes, of course."

Rose and Lily hurried after James, Roxanne and Scorpius to the Hospital Wing, where James and Roxanne set Scorpius down on one of the hospital beds.

Ben and Rick ran in just as they were putting him down, and Ben asked, "Is he okay?"

"Madam Patil said his shoulder's dislocated and his arm might be broken." Rose told him. "So, no, I guess he's not."

"A broken arm?" Rick winced. "That doesn't sound very good."

"No, really?" James said sarcastically. "Sounded perfectly delightful to me."

Ben sneered at him. "What are you doing here anyway, Potter?"

"He was helping your teammate, which is more than I can say about you and Zabini here." Roxanne said angrily.

"We didn't see!" Rick said defensively. "It's not like we knew a bludger would appear out of nowhere and knock him out."

Roxanne rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Rose sighed. "Madam Patil should be here any minute now."

"Here I am!" Madam Patil bustled into the Hospital Wing. "Just let me get Mr. Malfoy a painkilling potion and I'll heal his arm... you lot needn't be here any longer. Thank you so much, Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley, for helping to bring him up here."

"No problem." James said as he and Roxanne headed for the door. "See you later, Lil, Rose."

They left, and Madam Patil turned on Rose and Lily. "Can I help you girls?"

Rose chewed on her lower lip. "Would it be possible for us to stay, Madame Patil? Just until Scorpius wakes up?"

"Of course, dear." Madam Patil said.

"Er... we'll go make sure a crowd doesn't form." Rick said, gesturing to Ben and himself. "Our teammates probably want to see him, so Ben and I will go head them off."

"Yes, yes, go quickly." Madam Patil said. "I won't have the entire Slytherin Quidditch team crowding around my patient."

"Rose, we've hardly ever spoken to Scorpius." Lily whispered to her cousin as Rick and Ben hurried off. "What are you going to say to him when he wakes up?"

"I don't know." Rose whispered back. "You can go if you like, but I just feel as if I should be here for him, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know." Lily said honestly. "I didn't even know you two were friends. Anyway, Nott and Zabini are going to be here so you don't have to stay."

"I want to." Rose said firmly. "Did you see how he fell, Lil? It must've been so horrible for him."

Lily sighed. "All right, I'll stay with you."

Rose's face lit up. "You will? Really? Oh, thank you, Lily! You're the best cousin ever."

Lily laughed. "I'm not as good as all that, but yeah, I will. You want to stay, so I'll stay with you."

They watched Madam Patil heal his arm, then sat by his bed and talked until he finally woke up two hours later.

Scorpius' eyes opened just as Lily was in mid-yawn, and Rose gasped. "Scorpius! You're awake!"

Scorpius tried to sit up, and swore under his breath at the pain in his arm. Rose glanced at Lily worriedly, but she had two brothers and was used to it.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Malfoy?" Madam Patil asked as she emerged from her office with a vial of greenish potion in one hand.

Scorpius shook his head. "Horrible."

She thrust the vial at his face. "Open your mouth."

Scorpius reluctantly did as she said, and she poured the potion down his throat.

He coughed, then glanced at the two girls watching him. His eyes went from Rose to Lily then back to Rose. "Hi."

Rose's stomach fluttered, and she smiled shyly. "Hey. Your arm doesn't look too good."

"Yeah." Scorpius stared down at his arm – Madam Patil had put a splint on it. "It hurts like hell."

Lily grinned. "Well, your friends wanted us to let them know when you woke up so I guess I'll go get them."

"Thanks, Lil." Rose said, smiling at her. Lily smiled back before rushing off to get Rick and Ben, who had indeed come in an hour ago to ask them to do just that.

Rose turned back to Scorpius, and found him staring at her. His brow was furrowed. "Do your friends, besides that girl, know you're here?"

Rose was confused. "Yes, of course they do. Why?"

"I didn't think – " Scorpius trailed off. He shrugged, then winced.

"Are you okay?" Rose looked worried. "That potion Madam Patil gave you should've made the pain go away."

"I don't think it's started to work yet." Scorpius groaned.

Rose sat down in the chair by his pillow and watched as he shifted to get into a more comfortable position. She sighed. "You were out for two hours, you know."

Scorpius regarded her grimly before letting his eyes drift shut. "Thanks for being here."

Rose felt warmth flood through her body at the words, and she smiled. "Why'd you think I didn't tell my friends I was here?"

"I don't know." Scorpius said. "I didn't know if they'd... approve. Of us being friends."

Rose laughed. "Don't tell me you're one of those 'Slytherins and Gryffindors absolutely must hate each other on principle' people."

Scorpius scowled. "Did I say there was anything wrong with Slytherins and Gryffindors being friends? I only said maybe – "

"They don't care, Scorpius." Rose said. "Us being friends isn't really an issue to them. Is it with _your_ friends?"  
Scorpius frowned and shook his head.

"See?" Rose smiled. She hesitated. "If _you're_ having second thoughts, though - "

"No!" Scorpius said immediately, then flushed.

Rose's smile widened. "Then we don't have a problem."

They were joined by Lily, Ben and Rick a few moments later, and Lily couldn't help but notice that Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off Rose.

**Author's Note:** Please review! Thank you for reading.


	4. Interlude in the hallway

**Disclaimer:** The characters and magical references are all J.K. Rowling's.

Scorpius was discharged from the Hospital Wing a week later, his arm completely healed. During the seven days he was in the Hospital Wing, though, Rose had gone to see him at least once a day, and he had enjoyed her company greatly.

The first time she saw him after he'd been discharged was during Muggle Studies. Only eight people were in their Muggle Studies NEWT class including Scorpius and Rose, and Rose's face lit up when Scorpius walked in. "Scorpius! Over here!"

He smiled at her as he slid into the seat next to her. "Hey. How're you?"

His fringe was in his eyes again, and Rose wanted to reach up and brush it out of the way so she could look into the blue-gray that had become so familiar to her over the past few days. Instead, she beamed at him. "Great! I'm so glad you're all better."

Scorpius laughed. "Yeah, me too."

Rose had learnt that he wasn't much of a conversationalist, but she loved being around him anyway. It was just everything about him that drew her in – the sound of his voice, the way he smelt, the slightly crooked smile he gave people when he was embarrassed... _everything_.

"Were you able to finish your homework?" Rose asked.

"Not all of it." Scorpius said. "I finished the homework for the first few classes I have today, but that's about it."

He was just as enamoured with Rose as she was with him – not that he knew she felt the same way. With every minute he spent with her, he found himself liking her even more. She was chatty where he was quiet, and it was so much fun to be around her - not to mention she was gorgeous.

Their Muggle Studies professor entered the classroom at that moment, and Rose and Scorpius took their books out as the class began.

As soon as the bell rang, Rose gathered her books and turned to Scorpius. "I've got Herbology with Professor Longbottom next – what about you?"

"Transfiguration." Scorpius replied, picking his own books up. "I'll walk you to the greenhouses, though."

Rose beamed, and they set off to Rose's Herbology class. On the way there, they saw James and Ben nearly full-out duelling in the hallway.

Rose gasped as she rushed up to them. "What are you two _doing_?"

James was glaring at Ben, his wand drawn. "This git was just – "

"I was minding my own business, that's what I was doing!" Ben snarled. "All I said was that Scorpius would've beaten Potter here to the snitch if that stupid bludger hadn't hit him, and that perhaps the Gryffindor team had _planned_ it!"

"That's not really minding your own business." Scorpius pointed out as he walked up behind Rose.

"We don't need to _cheat_ to win!" James shouted, ignoring Scorpius. "Just because you Slytherins always have to resort to _foul_ play doesn't mean that we have to too!"

Ben pointed his wand right in between James' eyes. "You asked for it, Pott – "

"Don't be an idiot, Ben." Scorpius sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, _Nott_." Rose glared at Ben. "Do you even know who you're speaking to? _James Potter_, only the most amazing seeker ever to play at Hogwarts. He doesn't need to _cheat_!"

This made James grin. "Thanks, Rosie."

"_You. Shut. Up._" Ben growled as he dug his wand into the bridge of James' nose. He sneered at Rose. "Well, of course _you're_ going to stand up for him – you're a fellow Gryffindor, not to mention his cousin."

"Well, I'm _neither_ of those things, and I say give it a rest, Ben." Scorpius said. "Don't get pissed off over something as stupid as this. You don't even have any proof that they cheated."

Ben stared at him, his mouth hanging open. "I – you – you _prick_!"

"What?" Scorpius frowned.

"It was _you_ who got hit by that bloody bludger!" Ben said, his voice getting higher and more strained with every word. "I'm standing up for _you_, in case you didn't notice!"

"No, you're not." Scorpius said. "You're just angry because James got the snitch."

"James? _James_?" Ben's voice was impossibly high now. "His name's _Potter_!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen, Nott. So James got the snitch right before he ducked the bludger – big deal! There'll be other matches – get over it."

Scorpius tried to conceal his grin but failed miserably. "Sorry, mate."

Ben glared at him. "Don't call me 'mate'."

He stalked off, apparently forgetting all about James, who beamed and stretched his arm out to Scorpius. "I like you."

Scorpius grimaced as he shook James' hand. "I think I just lost a friend there."

"Yep." James said cheerfully. "But you gained another one, didn't you?"

Scorpius looked confused. "Who?"

"Me, of course!" James grinned. "Nice going back there, by the way."

"Wasn't for you." Scorpius muttered.

James' grin widened, and he raised an eyebrow. "'Course it wasn't. Where you two headed, then?"

"Herbology." Rose answered. "We're going to be late in a bit, so – "

"Oh, yeah, sure, I can tell when I'm not wanted." James grinned again. "See you two around? Together, most likely."

Rose flushed and Scorpius looked uncomfortable. James beamed. "I'll take that as a 'yes'! Tell that not-'mate' of yours to get a life for me, won't you?"

He walked away, whistling cheerily, and Rose sighed. "Kind of makes you wish you didn't help him out, doesn't it?"

Scorpius laughed. "More than 'kind of'."

They continued walking to the greenhouses, and Rose said, "I can't believe you actually stuck up for James and went _against_ one of your best friends."

Scorpius smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, not one of my finest Slytherin moments."

Rose laughed. "It was really nice of you, though. Thank you."

Scorpius looked over at her and grinned, and it was the warmest smile Rose had ever seen grace his face - she felt immensely pleased that she was on the receiving end of it.

Soon, they reached the greenhouses, and Rose turned to Scorpius. "I'll see you at lunch or something, then?"

Scorpius had just started to nod when a wind kicked up, blowing leaves all around them. Rose laughed when she spotted a leaf in his hair. "It's gotten into your hair, Scorp!"

"Ugh." Scorpius reached up and tried to get it out self-consciously, which just made Rose laugh even harder.

"Come here, let me do it." She giggled, putting her books down and stretching her own arms up.

She brushed the leaf out of his hair – and his hair was _so impossibly soft_ – before absent-mindedly smoothing her palm over his cheek.

She felt the heat of his skin beneath her palm as he flushed, and her own cheeks turned pink.

She dropped her hand quickly. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Was it just her, or was his voice a notch lower than it had been a moment ago?

Rose bent down to pick her books up, then smiled shyly at Scorpius, something she did so often and yet Scorpius still couldn't get enough of. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah." Scorpius could still feel her hand on his cheek. "See you later."

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much to all my reviewers. Your reviews make my day!


	5. Almost

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters or magical references are mine.

A light drizzle was falling on the Hogwarts grounds when Rose woke up on Saturday morning, and she sighed, rolling over so her face was buried in her pillow. She normally didn't mind the rain, but she had been planning on going to Hogsmeade that weekend and rain had not been part of her plan.

She finally got out of bed ten minutes later and quickly washed up and got dressed before heading down for breakfast.

She had just finished eating when Lily came up to the table, her eyes still bleary with sleep. She smiled at Rose. "Hey, Rose. Looks like it's raining hard outside."

"What?" Rose said, only then noticing that the drizzle had turned into a full-out thunderstorm. She groaned. "Oh, no! I was going to go to Hogsmeade!"

Lily looked sympathetic. "Sorry. You can always go tomorrow."

Just then, someone came up behind Rose, and she turned in her seat. A smile lit up her entire face as she exclaimed, "Scorpius!"

Scorpius smiled back at her. "I was going to go to the library, and I wondered if you wanted to come along?"

"I'd love to!" Rose beamed. "I just got done with my breakfast, anyhow."

She stood up and turned to Lily. "I'll see you later?"

Lily's eyebrows were raised but she was grinning. "Sure. See you later, Rose."

Rose and Scorpius made their way to the library, talking and laughing about all the things that had happened that past week.

They reached the library within five minutes, and found an empty table. Rose looked at Scorpius as they sat down. "So, what were you planning on studying?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I'm not doing very well in Divination. I suppose I should read up on that a bit."

"Oh, I'm having trouble with that too!" Rose said. "I don't understand that chapter on palm reading and all that."

"Me too." Scorpius grinned. "I'll go get a couple of books about that, then."

Rose nodded. "I'll go with you."

They found a few books about palm reading before going back to their table to look through them.

They had been reading for almost half an hour when Rose sighed impatiently and slammed her book shut. "It's no use – I don't understand anything these books say! I hate Divination."

Scorpius glanced up from his own book. "It's not as bad as all that."

"Trust me, it is." Rose said miserably.

Scorpius looked at her thoughtfully, then slid his own book to one side. "Give me your hand."

Rose looked surprised, but did as he said and put her hand face up on the table.

He took it, and pulled it toward him. He flipped through his book with one hand and held her hand with the other.

Finally, he found the page he was looking for and studied it for a moment before looking back up at Rose. "We'll start with the basics, okay?"

He traced his index finger along one of the lines that cut horizontally across Rose's palm. "This is the heart line. This other one – "

He ran his finger along the other line that cut horizontally across her palm before saying, "This other one's the head line."

He glanced up and saw that Rose's face was flushed. He frowned, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." Rose turned even pinker as she waved his concern away. "It's okay. Continue."

"Okay." He referred to the book again before pointing out which lines were her life and fate lines.

Her hand still in his, he started to explain to her how to read the lines. The more he talked, the more conscious he was that he was sort of holding her hand, and he stopped speaking abruptly.

The way she smelt of shampoo and oranges was suddenly the only thing he could think of, and slowly, he felt himself leaning in toward her, and the closer he got, the prettier she looked, and then she was just a_ centimetre_ away –

"Rose! Could I speak to you a moment?"

Rose and Scorpius sprang apart, and Rose looked disappointed by the interruption. She looked up and saw her younger brother Hugo scowling at her.

She sighed in annoyance, and stood up to follow her brother behind a bookcase. She folded her arm across her chest. "What is it?"

"_What was that?!_" Hugo said in disbelief. "_You were going to kiss Malfoy!_"

"Yes, and I would've done if you hadn't interrupted us!" Rose said angrily. "I thought you were doing something with Al today!"

"Rose, you don't want to kiss a _Slytherin_." Hugo said pleadingly. "He could be up to all sorts of evil things."

Rose rolled her eyes, but her expression softened at the genuine worry in Hugo's eyes. "Hugo, I know what I'm doing, okay? You don't know Scorpius. He's wonderful."

Hugo looked doubtful. "Still... he's a _Slytherin_."

Rose looked at him sternly. "I won't have you hating all Slytherins without reason. If one of them _really_ does or says something horrible, tell me and I'll hex him into the next millennium. Okay?"

Hugo smiled slightly. "Okay. How well do you know Malfoy anyway?"

"I'd say pretty well." Rose said with a smile of her own. "We've been friends for a little while now."

"Well, all right, then." Hugo sighed. "You can go kiss him. But that's all, okay? _Just kissing!_"

Rose laughed. "Don't worry, Hugo!"

She gave her little brother a hug before going back to Scorpius.

He looked up at her from where he had resumed reading, his brow furrowed. "Is everything okay?"

_No, everything's horrible!_ Rose wanted to say. _We almost kissed but my 14-year-old brother interrupted us, and now that the moment's over, I have no idea how to get you to snog me!_

Instead, she forced a smile. "Yeah, Hugo was just being a little brother. So, um, what were you saying?"

Scorpius looked at her for a few moments, his expression unreadable, before clearing his throat. "Uh, yeah, how to read the head line?"

Rose wanted to kick herself. She couldn't imagine a worse way of trying to get a boy to kiss you than to continue the conversation from before he had almost kissed you, but she hadn't been able to think of anything else to say.

Scorpius seemed to have learnt a lot more from the books they had gotten than she had, anyway, and she liked to hear his voice, so she didn't really mind when he started explaining how to read the head line to her.

The only thing was that for the rest of the afternoon, all she could think of was what it would have been like if they had actually kissed, and she couldn't listen to what he was saying at all.

**Author's Note: **Thank you for reading, and please leave a review! :)


	6. Advice

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, guys.

The next week came and went quickly, and Scorpius and Rose barely had time to see each other. Neither mentioned the almost-kiss, but it had gotten to the point where Rose couldn't go one moment without staring at Scorpius' mouth and Scorpius couldn't look at Rose without thinking of snogging her senseless.

Rose was studying in the common room early on Friday morning when Lily sunk into the spot beside her on the couch, smiling cheerily. "I heard you snogged Malfoy."

Rose's face heated up even as she continued to read her thick Ancient Runes textbook. "No, I didn't."

Lily looked surprised. "You didn't? But Hugo said he saw you guys in the library."

Rose groaned. "Oh, no. Is he telling _everybody_?"

"Just me, Al and James." Lily said. "Why would he say you two kissed if you didn't?"

"We almost did." Rose admitted. "But your source of gossip interrupted us."

Lily gasped. "He did? How insensitive!"

"Yeah." Rose sighed. "And then when he finally left, I accidentally resumed the conversation Scorp and I were having before we almost kissed, so nothing happened in the end."

"That sucks." Lily said sympathetically. "I'm really sorry. I'll go hex Hugo for you if you like."

Rose laughed. "Thanks, Lil, but you shouldn't. Anyway, I need to finish reading the chapter before my Ancient Runes class, so..."

"Oh, right!" Lily jumped up, taking the hint. "Sorry. Want me to bring some breakfast up for you?"

Rose smiled. "That'd be wonderful."

Lily hurried off and Rose continued reading her textbook.

Fifteen minutes later, James and Albus came into the common room, their arms laden with breakfast goodies.

Rose beamed at them. "Is that for me?"

"Yup." James grinned, dropping three muffins, a ham and cheese sandwich and a bowl of strawberries onto her lap. "Al and I will return the bowls and stuff later."

"Thank you so much." Rose took a plate of pancakes, sausages and waffles from Albus. "You guys are the best."

Albus smiled, swiping one of her strawberries. "No problem. You study too much, Rose."

"Not nearly as much as I should." Rose sighed. "I can't imagine what next year'll be like – sixth year's already hard enough, but _NEWT_ year – "

"Don't worry, it's a breeze." James flopped back onto an armchair. "Oh, by the way, I bumped into that Nott fellow yesterday, and he was as rude as ever. Ended up taking fifteen points off Slytherin, he was annoying me so much."

Rose gasped. "James! He's one of Scorpius' best friends!"

"Well, I wasn't about to let him off just because he's friends with your boyfriend." James said, taking one of Rose's muffins.

Rose flushed. "Scorpius isn't my boyfriend."

Albus looked surprised. "We heard you two kissed, though."

"We didn't." Rose said. "It's a long story."

"Well, even if you haven't snogged, he's practically your boyfriend anyway." James said. "You two are always together."

"He's my _friend_." Rose insisted.

"But you _want _him to be your boyfriend, right?" Albus asked.

"Well..." Rose paused. "I don't know if he wants that too, and I'm not about to ask him in case just the thought of it repulses him."

James grinned. "Not likely. Takes more than one person to _almost_ kiss, you know."

Rose stared at him in shock. "I thought you said you heard we kissed!"

"That's what _Al_ heard." James laughed. "Hugo told me the long version, though, and I think it's a pity that you two didn't get to snog."

"So do I." Rose said miserably.

"I don't know the long version but I think you should tell him how you feel about him." Albus said. "You've been sad the whole week, Rose, and it's not fun to see you like this."

"I'm not _sad_." Rose lied.

Albus rolled his eyes. "I'm your best friend, Rose. You always bury yourself in your textbooks when you're upset - you know you don't _actually_ need to study as much as you're doing."

"Al's right." James said. "As your favourite cousin, I say you go tell Malfoy how you feel, no matter how lame and cheesy those feelings are."

Rose laughed. "You're not my favourite cousin."

James grinned. "Whatever. Just go do as I tell you."

"All right, all right." Rose smiled. "I'll tell him by the end of today, okay?"

Albus smiled too. "Okay."

Unfortunately, telling him before the end of that day was more difficult than Rose had anticipated. She had zero classes with him on Fridays, and she didn't dare approach him at mealtimes because it was just too public.

When the sun had begun to set and Rose _still_ hadn't told Scorpius, Albus said to her, "You can't not tell him."

"What?" Rose frowned, distracted. She was thinking of how exactly she was going to tell Scorpius how she felt, and where he could be at this time of day so she could find him and just tell him already.

"Scorpius has Quidditch practice tonight." Al said as if reading her thoughts. "He's still standing in for seeker, so – "

But Rose had already hugged him and hurried off. She wanted to get her confession of feelings over with as quickly as possible so she could go back to the girls' dormitory and sleep. Worrying about telling Scorpius the entire day had worn her out, and she wished she'd never told James and Albus that she would do it.

The Slytherin Quidditch team's practice was already in session when she got down to the Quidditch pitch, and she shielded her eyes from the slowly setting sun as she watched Scorpius fly around the pitch with the others, their captain shouting out orders and telling them what to do.

Scorpius spotted Rose almost immediately, and swooped down, landing neatly in front of her, his hair tousled. He smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

"Do you have a minute?" Rose asked nervously. "I'd like to speak to you."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure." Scorpius got off his broomstick and turned back to where his teammates were still practicing. He yelled to his captain, "Could I have a break?"

The team captain nodded, and Scorpius turned back to Rose. "What did you want to talk about?"

Rose took a deep breath and said, "I've just – I was thinking about last week, and I think all my cousins know about that now, and maybe this is completely stupid but – "

"Wait, hold on, hold on." Scorpius' brow was furrowed. "By last week, you mean...?"

"In the library." Rose clarified.

"Oh." Scorpius' cheeks turned red as he realized what she was talking about. "I thought you – I thought you didn't want to."

"Didn't want to kiss?" Rose frowned.

Scorpius nodded, his face still red. "After you got back from talking to your brother, I thought maybe I'd kiss you, but then you asked me what I'd been saying, and..."

He shrugged. "I thought you didn't like me like that or something."

Rose's heart pounded double time. "But you – _you_ like _me_ like that?"

Scorpius' cheeks flamed all over again. "I know it's going to be near impossible for us to be friends now that you know that, but yes, I do, and – "

"Scorpius?" Rose's voice was barely a whisper now.

"Yes?" Scorpius licked his lips nervously.

"Kiss me." Rose breathed.

Feeling an intense joy he had never known before, Scorpius leant down and did just that.

It was better than either of them had ever dreamed.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who has read the story so far, and please review! :)


	7. Surprise

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters or the magical references!

Scorpius and Rose spent much of the next few days just talking, kissing and hanging out, and they were extremely happy. Their relationship progressed with surprising swiftness, and they were soon very close.

Scorpius was on his way to meet Rose in the Quidditch stands one evening when Rick stopped him, his brow furrowed. "Where are you going, Scorp?"

"To meet Rose." Scorpius tried to side-step his friend, but Rick narrowed his eyes.

"Are you guys officially dating now, then?" Rick asked.

"What's with the interrogation?" Scorpius said irritably. "When have I ever asked _you_ about your girlfriends?"

Rick sighed, a look of defeat taking the place of his angry expression. "I'm sorry, mate. It's just... don't you think this thing with Rose is going a bit fast?"

It was Scorpius' turn to frown. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you spend all your time with her, and you just only got together a week ago!" Rick said. "I'm glad you're happy, mate, but aren't you getting in over your head here?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I know this might be hard to believe, but Rose is perfect for me. I don't know how I never noticed it before, but it's the truth."

Rick grinned. "That was the corniest thing I've ever heard."

Scorpius laughed, the tension in the air disappearing. "We're okay, then? You're not going to question my relationship with Rose anymore?"

"Well..." Rick paused. "I still don't think you should be going so fast, but yeah, I respect your decisions."

"Thanks." Scorpius smiled. "I've got to go meet Rose now – see you later?"

"Yeah." Rick nodded, before heading off to the Slytherin common room.

Scorpius hurried to the Quidditch stands where Rose was waiting, her reddish-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a picnic basket by her side.

Scorpius grinned when he saw the picnic basket, and he flopped down next to Rose. "What's that?"

"Supper." Rose smiled shyly. "I thought it might be nice to eat outside."

Her smile, as always, created strange but wonderful feelings in Scorpius' stomach, and he leant down to kiss her.

She pulled him closer, her fingers moving to his hair, before breaking away a moment later, her smile brighter than ever. "Let's eat, then."

Scorpius helped her unload the picnic basket before asking, "Did you get all this food from the kitchens?"

Rose blushed. "Yes, I did. I know we're not supposed to, but the Gryffindors have been taking food directly from the kitchens for midnight snacks since I started at Hogwarts, and – "

"It's okay." Scorpius looked amused. "The Slytherins do it too. We don't take food for midnight snacks, though... where do you eat in the middle of the night?"

"We have parties in our common room." Rose laughed. "We're very bonded, us Gryffindors."

"I can tell." Scorpius grinned. He grabbed an apple from one of the plates Rose had set the food on and bit into it. "Oh, Rick stopped me on my way out here."

"Zabini?" Rose raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"He thinks our relationship's moving too fast." Scorpius said. "I told him I didn't agree."

"I don't either." Rose said. "It _has_ been moving quite quickly, but it feels right for us. I mean, I like you more than I've ever liked any boy. You're wonderful, Scorp."

Scorpius turned pink. Her words filled him with warmth but he hadn't grown up in the most open of families and it wasn't something he was used to. "Thanks. I really like you too, Rose."

Rose smiled at him. She bit into one of the sandwiches she had taken from the kitchens before saying, "I think Lorcan's going to tell Lily he likes her soon."

"Lorcan Scamander?" Scorpius looked interested. "He likes Lily?"

Rose nodded. "He's liked her since their first year, and about the only person in Gryffindor who _doesn't_ know he likes her is Lily herself."

Scorpius grinned. "That's usually the case, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Rose agreed. "I've never asked her how she feels about him, though."

"Why not?" Scorpius wanted to know.

Rose shrugged. "Lorcan doesn't want me to ask. He's afraid if I ask her, she'll figure out he likes her."

Scorpius laughed. "Lorcan sounds paranoid."

Rose giggled. "He is. He worries about the strangest things, but we love him because of it. He's a _very_ nice person."

"How have James and Ben been getting on?" Scorpius asked. "Last I heard, they were actually seen _talking_. And they weren't forced to either!"

"Really?" Rose smiled. "That's great! I wouldn't ever have expected it."

"Me neither." Scorpius said. "It's weird to think of them being civil to one another!"

They talked for a long time, and when Scorpius finally checked his watch, it was 10 o'clock. "It's getting late. D'you think anyone would notice if we stayed out here tonight?"

Rose sighed. "It _is_ a lovely night, isn't it? Unfortunately, I think it'd be quite obvious if the two of us were missing from our dormitories. We can always meet again tomorrow night."

"Or morning?" Scorpius said hopefully, and Rose laughed.

"No wonder your friends are worried about you." She teased, but her eyes were bright and she had obviously been thinking the same thing. She kissed him softly. "Tomorrow morning sounds great. Where do you want to meet?"

"Library?" Scorpius suggested, and Rose beamed. Their shared love for books was just one of the things she loved about him.

"The library opens at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, so meeting at 9 o'clock should be fine." Rose said. "Is that okay?"

"More than okay." Scorpius nodded.

They packed up the picnic basket quickly and headed down to the kitchens to return it.

After they had returned the basket, they started walking to the Gryffindor common room.

They had almost reached the common room when they heard strange sounds coming from one of the classrooms they were passing, and Rose stopped walking. "What was that?"

Scorpius frowned. "I don't know, but it sounds like..."

Both teenagers flushed when they identified the noises. It sounded like people snogging, among other things.

Rose bit her lip. "That's a _classroom_! They're not supposed to be doing that – they could get caught!"

Suddenly, the noises stopped, and a moment later, the classroom door flew open.

James stood in the doorway, his hair mussed. He looked stunned when he saw Rose. "_Rosie_?"

"James!" Rose gasped. "You know better than to go snogging in classrooms! You're a seventh year, for goodness' sake!"

"_Shit_, it's really late, I didn't re – " Ben appeared in the doorway behind James at that moment, and he stopped talking abruptly when he saw Scorpius and Rose.

Scorpius stared. "_Ben_?!"

James swore, and Rose clapped a hand over her mouth.

Ben scratched his head awkwardly. "I guess we've got some explaining to do, huh?"

**Author's Note:** Reviews are HUGELY appreciated! :) Thank you!


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